1. (a) The tender of a CASH Program payment by the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System to a member who elects to participate in the CASH Program shall:

   1. (1) Cancel the member’s membership in the system;
   2. (2) Extinguish any credited service the member has accumulated in the system; and
   3. (3) Extinguish the member’s right to any future retirement benefit that the member would have received from the system based on the member's service.

2. (b)

   1. (1) The opportunity for a CASH Program payment shall be available:

      1. (A) In accordance with the provisions of Arkansas Code § 24-7-505 and this subpart; and
      2. (B) Only for a specific and temporary period of time to a specific category of members.
   2. (2) The Board of Trustees of the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System may determine the category of members of the system to whom a CASH Program payment may be offered.

3. (c)

   1. (1) The CASH Program payment shall be calculated under a formula that is:

      1. (A) Unique to the category of members to whom the CASH Program payment is available; and
      2. (B) Applicable for the offering period exclusively.

   2. (2)

      1. (A) The system shall not be obligated to extend a CASH Program payment offer or to make a future or similar CASH Program payment offer.
      2. (B) The terms, rules, and rights for any CASH Program payment offer under a specific offering period shall not apply to a subsequent CASH Program payment offering.

4. (d) A CASH Program payment:

   1. (1) Shall be tendered only for actual service credit that a member has in the system; and
   2. (2) Shall not be tendered for reciprocal service credit that a member has in the system.

5. (e)

   1. (1) A CASH Program payment may be:

      1. (A) Made by check and may be mailed to a member’s address; or
      2. (B)

6. (i) At the member’s direction, directly rolled over into a qualifying retirement plan under Arkansas Code § 24-7-719.

   1. (ii) The system shall roll over a CASH Program payment into only one (1) qualifying retirement plan.

   2. (2)

      1. (A) The system shall make reasonable efforts to contact all members who are eligible to participate in the CASH Program.

      2. (B) However, the system shall not be obligated to:

         1. (i) Contact a member to verify the accuracy of the member’s last address of record on file with the system;
         2. (ii) Confirm a member’s receipt of a CASH Program offer;
         3. (iii) Confirm a member’s receipt of a CASH Program election form; or
         4. (iv) Confirm that the system has received a CASH Program election form submitted by a member.

Codification Notes: “CASH” means cash and savings help.